Relates to age and service eligibility requirements for ordinary retirement for members of the unified court system; restores 55/30 for all members; reduces the retirement age from 63 to 62.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A11387
SPONSOR: Rules (Pheffer Amato) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
eligibility for retirement benefits for certain members of the unified
court system
2.
SOURCE OF BILL
This bill is being introduced at the request of the Unified Court
System.
3. PURPOSE OF BILL
This bill would allow any Tier 6 member who is a uniformed court officer
or peace officer employed by the Unified Court System to retire without
early age reduction upon attaining 30 years of creditable service and
age 55. It will also reduce the normal retirement age from 63 to 62, and
lessen the reductions in benefits for those who retire prior to normal
retirement age.
4. SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS
Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision (a) of Section 503 of the
Retirement and Social Security Law by allowing Tier 6 uniformed court
officers or peace officers employed by the Unified Court System into the
age 55 retirement plans already in place for other similar employees,
and reduces the normal retirement age for these employees from 63 to 62.
Section 2 of the bill amends subdivisions (a) and (a-1) of Section 603
of the Retirement and Social Security Law by allowing Tier 6 uniformed
court officers or peace officers employed by the Unified Court System
into the age 55 retirement plans already in place for other similar
employees, and reduces the normal retirement age for these employees
from 63 to 62.
Section 3 of the bill amends subdivisions (a) and (a-1) of Section 604
of the Retirement and Social Security Law by allowing Tier 6 uniformed
court officers or peace officers employed by the Unified Court System
into the age 55 retirement plans already in place for other similar
employees, and reduces the normal retirement age for these employees
from 63 to 62.
Section 4 of the bill amends paragraph 3 of subdivision (i) of Section
603 of the Retirement and Social Security Law by allowing Tier 6
uniformed court officers or peace officers employed by the Unified Court
System into the age 55 retirement plans already in place for other simi-
lar employees, and reduces the normal retirement age for these employees
from 63 to 62.
Section 5 of the bill provides that notwithstanding any other provision
of law to the contrary, this bill is not subject to the appropriation
requirement of Retirement and Social Security Law § 25.
Section 6 of the bill provides that this bill becomes effective imme-
diately.
5. JUSTIFICATION
This bill would amend the Retirement and Social Security Law to: (i)
permit uniformed court officers and peace officers employed by the
Unified Court System (UCS) to retire at age 55 without a reduction in
pension benefits, provided they have 30 years of service; (ii) reduce
the normal retirement age for such employees from 63 to 62; and (iii)
lessen the reductions in benefits for those employees who retire prior
to normal retirement age.
Other New York State law enforcement agencies provide more competitive
pension plans, with options to retire with fewer years of service and at
younger ages than UCS can currently offer. For example, New York State
police officers and New York State correction officers both have earlier
retirement opportunities, with 20 years of service and 25 years of
service respectively, regardless of age. The UCS employs highly trained
peace and court officers who protect and serve each and every day,
however they are treated like every other Tier 6 employee, and only are
entitled to retire at age 63, regardless of how many years of service
credit they have accumulated.
This disparity has made it difficult for the UCS to attract and retain
personnel: applications to serve as court officers are far less numerous
than they were in the past and officers who begin with the courts often
transfer to other jurisdictions where their years of service can be
applied to positions that allow for earlier retirement with correspond-
ingly greater pensions. Those difficulties have impeded the courts'
ability to hear cases, as a judge cannot be in a courtroom without an
officer present and officers are needed to transport defendants within
the courthouse and ensure the safety of all present. Adoption of this
measure, while not bringing court officer pensions into parity with
those of police and corrections officers, would enhance the ability of
the court system to recruit and retain more court and peace officers,
and better serve New York State.
6. PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Similar versions of this bill have been passed and vetoed in 2016
(A.9440, Veto 245), 2017 (A.3332, Veto 191), 2018 (A.9910, Veto 290),
2019 (A.5940, Veto 249), 2023 (A.5679, Veto 88), 2024 (S.8788, Veto
107) and 2025 (S8207, Veto 161).
7. FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The bill would impose a one-time $21 million cost on the Judiciary in
the first fiscal year and an additional $2 million cost in each subse-
quent fiscal year after enactment. There would be no fiscal impact upon
local governments.
8. EFFECTIVE DATE
The bill would take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11387
IN ASSEMBLY
May 15, 2026
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A.
Pheffer Amato) -- (at request of the Unified Court System) -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
eligibility for retirement benefits for certain members of the unified
court system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision a of section 503 of the retirement and social
2 security law, as amended by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 a. The normal service retirement benefit specified in section five
5 hundred four of this article shall be payable to general members, other
6 than elective members, who have met the minimum service requirements
7 upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-two, provided, however, a
8 general member who is a peace officer employed by the unified court
9 system or a member of a teachers' retirement system may retire without
10 reduction of [his or her] such member's retirement benefit upon attain-
11 ment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of thirty or
12 more years of service. For members who become members of the New York
13 state and local employees' retirement system on or after April first,
14 two thousand twelve, the normal service retirement benefits specified in
15 section five hundred four of this article shall be payable to general
16 members, other than elective members, who have met the minimum service
17 requirements upon retirement and attainment of age sixty-three; provided
18 that, a member who is a peace officer employed by the unified court
19 system may retire without reduction of such member's retirement benefit
20 upon attainment of at least fifty-five years of age and completion of
21 thirty or more years of service.
22 § 2. Subdivision a-1 of section 603 of the retirement and social secu-
23 rity law, as added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read
24 as follows:
25 a-1. For members who first become a member of a public retirement
26 system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve, except
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07851-06-6
A. 11387 2
1 for uniformed court officers or peace officers employed by the unified
2 court system, the service retirement benefit specified in section six
3 hundred four of this article shall be payable to members who have met
4 the minimum service requirements upon retirement and have attained age
5 sixty-three.
6 § 3. Subdivisions a and b-1 of section 604 of the retirement and
7 social security law, subdivision a as amended and subdivision b-1 as
8 added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, are amended to read as follows:
9 a. The service retirement benefit at normal retirement age for a
10 member with less than twenty years of credited service, or less than
11 twenty-five years credited service for a member who joins the New York
12 state teachers' retirement system on or after January first, two thou-
13 sand ten, shall be a retirement allowance equal to one-sixtieth of final
14 average salary times years of credited service. Normal retirement age
15 for members who first become members of a public retirement system of
16 the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve shall be age
17 sixty-three; except that the normal retirement age shall be sixty-two
18 for a member who is a peace officer or uniformed court officer employed
19 by the unified court system.
20 b-1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
21 service retirement benefit for members with twenty or more years of
22 [credit] credited service who first become a member of a public retire-
23 ment system of the state on or after April first, two thousand twelve at
24 age sixty-three, or at age sixty-two for uniformed court officers or
25 peace officers employed by the unified court system, shall be a pension
26 equal to the sum of thirty-five per centum and one-fiftieth of final
27 average salary for each year of service in excess of twenty times final
28 average salary times years of credited service. In no event shall any
29 retirement benefit payable without optional modification be less than
30 the actuarially equivalent annuitized value of the member's contrib-
31 utions accumulated with interest at five percent per annum compounded
32 annually to the date of retirement.
33 § 4. Paragraph 3 of subdivision i of section 603 of the retirement and
34 social security law, as added by chapter 18 of the laws of 2012, is
35 amended to read as follows:
36 3. A member of a public retirement system of the state who has met the
37 minimum service requirement, but who is not a New York city transit
38 authority member, as defined in paragraph one of subdivision a of
39 section six hundred four-b of this article, may retire prior to normal
40 retirement age, but no earlier than attainment of age fifty-five, in
41 which event, the amount of [his or her] such member's retirement benefit
42 computed without optional modification shall be reduced by six and one-
43 half per centum for each year by which early retirement precedes age
44 sixty-three; provided, however, that for a member who is a uniformed
45 court officer or peace officer employed by the unified court system, the
46 retirement benefit computed without optional modification shall be
47 reduced in accordance with paragraph one of this subdivision.
48 § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
49 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation
50 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
51 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would allow any Tier 6 member who is a uniformed court offi-
cer or peace officer employed by the unified court system to retire
without an early age reduction upon attaining age 55 with 30 years of
creditable service. It would also reduce the normal retirement age from
A. 11387 3
63 to 62 and lessen the reductions in benefits for those who retire
prior to normal retirement age.
We estimate that the state of New York's annual contributions will
increase $5.5 million beginning FYE 2027, with near-term costs increas-
ing 1.7% of salary for the affected participants, from 13.9% to 15.6%.
Subsequent costs will vary annually but are expected to average 1.4% of
salary, long-term.
In addition, there will be an immediate past service cost of $41.7
million borne by the state of New York as a one-time payment. This cost
assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2027.
These estimated costs are based on 3,515 affected members employed by
the state of New York, with annual salary of approximately $265 million
as of March 31, 2025.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The
actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair
value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
Statements and Supplementary Information.
Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been
modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
change(s).
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
sional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated March 10, 2026, and intended for use only during
the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-137. As Chief
Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), I,
Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with
applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of
Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing
Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of
which I am a member. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not believe it
impairs my objectivity.
